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Originally Posted by book1182 Let's keep it simple.
Guns: Tie - Hurricane; the different variations that it could care make it a a good fit for any fight, P-40 has those dependable .50cal.
Turn radius: Hurricane wins, can turn on a dime.
Dive: P-40 wins, could dive with the best of them.
Number of allied nations that flew P-40: all of them
Number of allied nations that flew Hurricane: 3-4???
WINNER P-40 WARHAWK
(Don't hold me to the nations that flew the Hurricane. It was just a general statement that the P-40 was flown by more nations.) |
Its a little more complicate than that;
Speed; P-40
Generally speaking the P-40 was faster than the Hurricane at most altitudes, but the advantage was less above 20,000 feet.
Climb: Hurricane
The Hurricane climbed to 20,000 feet faster than the P-40, taking about 8 minutes compared to the P-40's ~9. Initial rate of climb is also heavily in favour of the Hurricane.
Rate of Roll: P-40
The P-40 rolled significantly better than the Hurricane. However the Hurricane had exceptional responsiveness and balance in it alierons and harmony of controls, which make up for it somewhat.
Cockpit layout/visability: tie
Both had heavily framed cockpits and the limited foward vision of long nosed fighters.
Armament; Hurricane
4 20mm Hispanos hose all over 6 .50 cals. The USN recokned that 1 20mm was equal to 3 .50 cals, giving the Hurricane approximately twice the firepower.
The Hurricane could haul 2 500lbrs or, more importantly, 8 rockets. While the P-40N could actually carry 1500lbs total, it never had the dedicated ground attack capability (rockes or 40mm Vickers)
Range; P-40
Range on internal fuel was roughly similar, about 500 miles. The Hurricane was only ever cleared for small droptanks (45 imp gal I think) which stretched its reange out to 1000 mile. The P-40, on the other hand, could reach about 1400-1500 miles with 3 drop tanks.
Reliability: tie
Both the Merlin and the V-1710 were excellent reliable engines. Both took to overboosting and modification very easily. The Hurricane was always one of the most serviceable and reliable British fighters of the war.
Armour/protection; P-40
The heavier construction and use of a completely stressed skin airframe meant that the P-40 was more rugged and resiliant to enemy fire than the Hurricane. It carried heavier weights of armour, which better protected its pilots.
Repairability; Hurricane
The Hurricane was an exceptionally easy airframe to maintain and repair. Its fabric construction on the wings and tailplane were remarkably easy to patch and repair.
Mulit-role capability: Hurricane
The Hurricane performed as a search and rescue plane, carrier fighter, catapault launched convoy escort, dedicated ground support fighter and anti-shipping fighter.
Ease of flight; Hurricane
The Hurricane was supposedly one of the most forgiving fighters in the sky. It was actually easier to handle than the Spitfire. It had very gentle departure characteristics and fairly easy recovery. It also had nice wide track landing gear and worked well as a carrier fighter.
The P-40 was well known for nastiness and pecularities in its stall regieme. It was also very troublesome in the stall, having a tendancy to cartwheel and flip end over end.
Useage: Tie
The Hurricane was used by Britain, France, Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands, Russia, Romanis, South Africa, Canada, Yougoslavia and Turkey.
The P-40 was used by New Zealand, USA, Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt and France.
I'm still going to favour the Warhawk, but only by the smallest of margins. One on one, the Hurricane is probably a the better dogfighter. However, as WW2 was about a team effort and not necessarily about classic dogfights, the better speed, dive, roll and zoom climb of the P-40 would keep a sensible group of pilots safer and give them better results.
To those in that club. 
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